According to a statement released by the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD), in February this year crude steel production in Turkey decreased by 3.3 percent year on year to three million mt, while in the January-February period this year Turkey’s crude steel production totaled 6.1 million mt, falling by 5.7 percent year on year.
In the January-February period, Turkey’s finished steel consumption fell by 1.2 percent to 5.9 million mt, while in February alone finished steel consumption in Turkey increased by 1.9 percent to 2.9 million mt, both year on year.
In February, Turkey’s steel exports increased by 1.3 percent to 1.3 million mt, while the value of these exports rose by 46.5 percent to $1.2 billion, year on year. Turkey’s steel exports in the January-February period stood at 2.6 million mt, up by two percent year on year, while the value of these exports came to $2.4 billion, up by 52.4 percent year on year.
In February, Turkey’s steel imports increased by 12.9 percent to 1.4 million mt, while the value of these imports moved up by 76.3 percent to $1.5 billion, both year on year. In the first two months of the current year, steel imports increased by 13.8 percent to 2.8 million mt, while the value of these imports rose by 67.6 percent to $2.9 billion, both year on year.
According to the TCUD, in February scrap imports from Russia and Ukraine, which have been among the major scrap suppliers for Turkey, decreased significantly due to the high scrap export duties and the war. Turkey’s scrap imports from Russia decreased from 160,000 mt to 5,000 mt, while imports from Ukraine decreased from 17,000 mt to 2,000 mt. In addition, although Turkey is one of the countries that will benefit the most from the new quota distribution as a result of EU sanctions against Russia, the fact that scrap and pig iron are mostly imported from Ukraine and Russia will negatively impact Turkey’s steel production. Meanwhile, following the EU and Japan, the US has reached an agreement with the UK on Section 232, bringing in tariff-rate quotas for the country, and duty-exempt countries will gain an advantage against Turkey in the US market. It will be important for Turkey to reach a similar deal with the US on the same issue.